逆耳 (nì ěr) — unpleasant to the ear; grating (usually of honest, critical advice)

Definition

逆耳 means 'unpleasant to hear' — almost always used for honest advice that is hard to accept. The set phrase 忠言逆耳 ('faithful words grate on the ear') uses it idiomatically.

adjective
unpleasant to the eargrating (usually of honest, critical advice)

Examples

  • 逆耳，。
    Zhōng yán nì ěr, dàn duì wǒ men yǒu hǎo chù.
    Loyal advice is unpleasant to hear, but it benefits us.
  • 逆耳，。
    Zhè xiē huà suī rán nì ěr, què shì zhēn xīn wèi nǐ hǎo.
    Though these words are grating to the ear, they are genuinely for your own good.
  • 逆耳。
    Tā tīng bú jìn rèn hé nì ěr de huà.
    He won't listen to anything unpleasant to his ears.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

逆nìgo against
耳ěrear

逆 goes against 耳 the ear, giving an unpleasant sound.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 辶辵chuòmovement
  • 屰屰nìgo against

The 辶 part shows movement, and 屰 gives the sound and the sense of going against, so the whole depicts moving in the opposite direction.

Open 逆 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

耳 is drawn as a picture of an ear.

Open 耳 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.